Way Too Late
by Tottenham Hotspur
Summary: A stubborn girl and a big bully who don't want to admit their love for each other until it's way too late.


**Way Too Late**

"…I love you…" was what Erza heard. She looked up into a man with white scaly scarf, a pair of onyx eyes and pink hair of a person she never thought would have said those three words to her. She gasped and thought, _'No way! Am I __dreaming?' _Natsu seemed to have read her thoughts and said, "No, you're not," before bending down to match her height. With Natsu's soft breath on her lips, she closed her eyes and leaned forward.

"Riiiiiiiiing!" Erza's eyes shot open as her alarm clock blared out to her once quiet bedroom.

"Oh great. I WAS dreaming." Erza mumbled. Frustrated, Erza jumped out of bed, turned off her alarm clock and walked into her bathroom to start her daily routine.

While she had her shower and put on her school uniform, she could think of nothing but the dream. The entire time she was cooking and eating her breakfast and of course her Strawberry Cheesecake, she still couldn't stop thinking about the dream. As she locked the door to her one-room apartment and set off to walk to school, the only thing on her mind was how embarrassing the dream was.

_'That has to be the __sixth__ dream I had with __Natsu__ this month. What's __going on with my head? Am I going crazy? Or worse, am I falling __in love __for him?__No way! That's impossible! That guy's just a bully__,__ an egoistic jerk,__a pain in the ass, an arrogant bastard …__…__and very handsome bully with a __very gorgeous body… Ok… It's official, I'm crazy!'_ As Erza's thoughts went on and on, she didn't notice her best friend as she came and walked beside her.

"GOOD MORNING, ERZA!" Lucy yelled into Erza's ear.

Unaffected, Erza turned to her busty friend, muttered a greeting, and returned to her thoughts, which now included Lucy.

_'What was I thinking?! __Lucy__ likes, no, loves __Natsu__. I can't do this __to her. So what if I fell for __Natsu__? __Lucy__ loved him since year one __in __high__ school… And __Lucy__ look good together__ with him__… I mean, __she__ have__ elegant __b__londe__ hair, dark brown eye__s __and have __ more __gorgeous __bod__y__… while I have __red__ hair, __ordinary __b__rown__ eye … I'm short__er than her__ …and__ Natsu like tall girl__… I'm __not __Natsu's type__. Not to __mention we always fight.'_

After that last thought, Erza felt depressed for some reason. _'I think __I really do like him. Even if I do,'_ forgetting that Lucy is next to her, she muttered softly, "There's no way in hell he is going to find out."

"What?" Lucy asked, having to hear her mutter softly.

"Oh! Umm… How are you today, Lucy?" Erza hesitantly asked.

Lucy, being her clueless self, answered, "I'm fine, no, FANTASTIC! You won't believe what I found yesterday!" Before Erza could ask, Lucy shouted, "A new place to hang out with Natsu and the gang!"

The moment Natsu's name reached Erza's eyes, her heart skipped a beat. "Oh, that sounds like fun. We should ask them later if they would want to go with us after school."

"Ask who later?" a voice asked behind them. Before Erza could turn towards the voice, she already knew who it was and her heart automatically began to beat faster.

Natsu Dragneel stood in front of them with his trademark scarf, hands in the pockets of his school uniform. After a moment of silence, Natsu stared at the two girls in front of him and repeated, "So, who are you going to ask later?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Erza said, "Well, Natsu, I didn't know eavesdropping was your thing."

"I wasn't eavesdropping. It's just that you were talking too noisily." Natsu replied, grinning.

Erza answered with a kick at his shins, making him grunt in pain.

"What was that for, red-head?" Natsu shouted his hands on his hurting shins.

"That's for calling me noisy," Erza shot back, "and this one is for calling me a red-head." After saying that, Erza tried to kick Natsu again but he dodged out of the way and caught Erza's leg with his hand, making her lose her balance.

"Do you really think that I'd fall for that a second time?" Natsu said, smirking smugly.

"Well… yeah," Erza said, a little shock, from the ground. _'What was __that about? __Natsu__ never tries to block my attacks as it doesn't really __hurt him… that much. I wonder if —'_Erza's thoughts were cut short as a large hand appeared in front of her.

"Sorry for making you lose your balance," Natsu muttered softly, waiting.

Shocked once again, Erza took Natsu's hand without thinking and managed to give a small thanks, before being pulled back up. They let go of each others' hands as soon as Erza was standing up again.

_'She has such small hands.' _Natsu thought, suddenly wishing he could hold them once more.

'I wonder what he is thinking of right now…,' Erza thought as she stared at Natsu.

As the two continued to stare at each other, Lucy, who was getting angrier and angrier with every second, said in her very loud voice "Come on, guys, snap out of it! Let's get going before we're late for school!"

Both Natsu and Erza snapped back into reality and looked at Lucy with a guilty look for Erza and pissed off look for Natsu . 'D_amn, I totally __forgot about her,' _they both thought in unison.

Erza, who knew that this was just one of Lucy's tactics to get Natsu's attention, played along with her. "Oh, you're right. Come on, last one to reach the classroom has to pay for my lunch." Erza said before speeding off. _'There you go, __Lucy__. I'm giving you a chance to __be with __Natsu__, so forgive me for taking his attention for so long,' _Erza thought sadly.

Natsu stared after Erza and started running, not wanting to lose to her, when suddenly a piercing voice shouted to him.

"Natsu, WAIT!" Lucy shrieked from behind him and grabbed his bag, making him unable to move.

_'Damn, she caught me!'_ Natsu thought. Ever since Natsu found out from Gray that Lucy was in love with him, he always tried to run away from her like she was a plague. The only time Natsu ever talked to her was when Erza was around, and he didn't want to let Erza know that he didn't like her only female friend. He didn't want to find out what Erza would do to him if she knew. _'Well, that's what you get for __falling for the most violent girl in the __school__. Not to mention her wide __knowledge of karate moves…'_

Natsu's thoughts were cut short when he felt something claw into his arm and he winced in pain: Lucy had her claws…I mean…arms, around Natsu's left arm.

"…What do you want, Lucy?" Natsu asked quite harshly.

"Nothing. It's just that I've hurt my ankle during P.E. so I couldn't really walk properly," Lucy lied swiftly, ignoring the irritation in Natsu's tone.

Natsu, who was not going to give her the chance to lie, said, "I was at P.E and I didn't see anyone get hurt."

"Uhhm, well, I got myself hurt, uhh, after P.E." Lucy stuttered out.

_'Lucky save.'_ Natsu thought and replied with a simple "Oh."

By the time they arrived to the school, Lucy was chatting away like nothing had happened with Natsu silently blocking her out of his mind.

When they arrived outside the classroom, Lucy skipped inside first to greet her other friends, leaving Natsu rubbing his arm outside.

_'Finally! I thought she would never let go.'_

"Morning, Natsu," a deep voice came from behind him.

Natsu turned to Jellal Fernandes A.K.A Jelly-man, replied with a careless "Yo", and walked into the classroom with Jellal trailing behind. Before he could even take another step towards his desk, Erza appeared in front of him.

"Hey, Natsu! You're buying me lunch," Natsu stared with a questioning look on his face, "because you arrived dead last," she finished.

Natsu knew he would just get a kick if he talked back, so he sighed and answered with a soft "Fine".

Satisfied with his answer, Erza smiled and said, "Thanks, Natsu, you're a lifesaver." Dazzled by one of her rare smiles, Natsu replied with a nod and walked to his seat.

"Riiing!" went the school bell, signaling that it was time for the students to return to their seats. The teacher walked in and started to drone on and on about the proper procedure of how to dissect a frog.

Natsu was looking at Erza. She no longer had that smile on her face, but her usual blank look. _'I don't remember the last time she smiled __like that. But… I'm not complaining. She looks cute with a smile. I __wonder if I could make her smile like that again.'_ Natsu unconsciously thought, with a smirk playing off his lips.

Unaware by Natsu, someone behind him was turning green with envy. Lucy's thoughts were flying everywhere. _'What __the heel __does __Erza__ think she's __doing? Didn't I tell her that __Natsu__ is mine! After all, I only became __her __**'best friend'**__ so that she'll be clear on who's the boss here! Maybe __I should just reveal the truth that no one wants to be her friend. Or I __should just continue with this __**'relationship' **__to get close to __Natsu__ as __even though I hate to admit it, I know she's much closer to him than me.'_

Lucy battled with herself for awhile until she finally arrived at a conclusion, _'Ok then. I will be __**'friends'**__ for a little while longer __until I can get __Natsu__'s loyalty to me. Maybe I'll even get __Natsu__'s __rival, __Gray Full__b__uster__ to help out. I could even plan __something for my __**'dear friend' **__Erza__—'_

While Lucy was plotting to herself, Erza was in her own set of thoughts. _'I hope __Lucy__ doesn't mind that I told __Natsu__ to buy me __lunch, I mean, it's his fault that he came in last. And I didn't think __he would actually agree to it… It was so kind and unexpecting of him to __say so, I just had to smile. I hope he didn't think that my smile was __weird or anything. On the other hand, he didn't even show any expression __or say anything.'_

While all of the students were in their own thoughts, they didn't notice that the teacher had stopped talking and was trying to get their attention.

Frustrated, the teacher shouted, "OK, CLASS! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

There was a moment of silence as the students stopped talking. Some grumbled as they kept their paper planes away while others jerked awake from their naps. There was one unlucky boy whom sat right in front of the teacher and nearly fell off his chair when the high pitched voice almost burst his eardrums.

Ignoring the glares from her students, the teacher said, "Ok guys, you know what you're supposed to do, so get your butts off your chair and start moving!"

There was a scramble as everyone moved at the same time and jammed the doorway. Natsu, Erza, Gray and Jellal **'****the smart ones****'** stood back as they waited for the rest of the class to clear out.

As Lucy was no longer there with her hungry eyes on him, Natsu took this chance to ask Erza what they were talking about earlier.

"Huh?" Erza said with a curious look on her face.

"Don't tell me you forgot?" Natsu looked at her with a blank look, "You said that I was eavesdropping."

Recollection flashed through Erza's mind as her eyes blinked in surprise, "Why are you so curious?"

"…Because I'm sure I heard my name."

"Oh."

"Just 'oh'? Aren't you going to tell me what you were talking about with Lucy?"

"…Why don't you just ask Lucy, Natsu?"

"Why don't you just tell me, huh?" Natsu asked, upset that Rukia won't tell him. _'And I wouldn't want to talk to __Lucy__…'_

Erza stared at Natsu for awhile before saying, "Lucy said that she found a new place to hang out and wants to know if you and the gang could come with us after school."

"Oh, ok. I'm free today." Natsu said, slightly surprised.

"That's good to know…"

The both of them walked together in comfortable silence, quietly enjoying each other's presence and blocking out the other students who were talking loudly among each other.

After trying to think about something to talk about, Natsu came out with nothing and realized that he was walking blindly, having no idea of where they're going.

"So, uh, where are we going?"

Choking back on an insult, Erza spoke in a monotone, "Lab. To dissect a frog."

"Oh… Want to be my lab partner?" Natsu said without thinking. Realizing what he said, he turned quickly to face Erza.

The shock on Erza's face flashed by quickly and was replaced with a look of suspicion and a tiny bit of hope.

"Why would you want me as your lab partner?" Erza asked, still suspicious.

Thinking fast, Natsu questioned back, "Why can't I have you as my lab partner?"

Not wanting to lose, Erza said calmly, "There are other girls. So why me?"

"Because you are the only girl that is willing to actually dissect a frog."

"Fine." Erza muttered silently, when a thought appeared suddenly,

"Wait, what about your best friend, Jellal?"

"Just drop it, Erza, you already accepted. And Jellal already has a partner." Erza didn't retort back, which worried Natsu.

As the both of them were in their own thoughts, they did not notice Gray Fullbuster walking quietly behind them. _'__Heartfilia__-sama would want to __hear about this later,' _Gray thought and made a mental note to tell her the next time he saw her.

When they reached the lab, Natsu told Erza to go ahead first to pick a table for them and that he will join her in awhile.

He stood outside the lab and grabbed Jellal by the shoulder before he could walk into the lab.

"Hey Jellal, uh, sorry, but I couldn't—"

"—Be my lab partner. Sure, don't worry. I overheard you talking to Erza just now. Good work by the way, on having the guts to ask her to be your lab partner. I'm getting tired of you talking about her all the time and not to mention all that staring—"

"Ok ok ok! Keep it down! Someone might hear you!"

"Come on, Natsu! When are you going to tell her that you're in love with her? And that you're moving tomorrow? I'm tired of seeing you bully her all the time. You're not a child you know."

"Yea, I know that." Natsu said, his face as bright as his hair, "Let's go in before they wonder what happened to us."

As they entered the class, the teacher just finished telling the class what they were supposed to do, "—draw and label your frog's internal organs and pass them up to me."

Getting to his seat, which was at the back of the lab, Natsu asked Erza, "So, what did I miss?"

Erza turned to glare at him, "An entire speech on 'How to Dissect a Frog'."

"Ok. So, what are we supposed to do?"

"**You're** going to get the dead frog from the freezer and **you****'****re** going to dissect the frog. **I'm** going to draw and label." Erza replied icily.

Trying to atone for his lateness, Natsu said, "Fine. And I'm sorry for being late." Then he added in a sarcastic whisper, "Your Highness."

Erza turned her head so fast that Natsu almost fell off his high stool and asked with a glare, "What did you say?"

Not even needing to think twice, Natsu shot back with a smirk, "I said Erza. Unless you want me to call you by a different name like 'red-head', 'violent', 'loud-mouth', 'cutie'—." Natsu quickly shut himself up.

Erza was getting more and more depressed with every name the bully called her, but her head shot up with hope and surprise in her eyes when she heard the last word. "What was that?"

"Wh-What was what?" Natsu stuttered.

"The last word you called me.", Erza said confidently. 'There is no way I'm letting you go, Dragneel. I know exactly what I heard. But you're going to admit it.'

"What? You mean… 'loud-mouth'?" Natsu said, trying to come up with a plan.

"Really?" Erza drawled, "Because I'm pretty sure I heard _'cutie'_ there somewhere."

The silence went on for about 5 minutes before Natsu broke the ice by saying, "Well…you are cute." But added quickly, "Like a little kid!"

But Erza did not hear that, because Erza was in her own private heaven when Natsu admitted that she was cute. But snapped out of it when she noticed Natsu staring at her, waiting for a reply.

"'Weird' cute or 'pretty' cute?" Erza asked quietly.

"The latter one…" Natsu replied just as silently, his face turned to look away from her with his hand on his mouth, as if he was trying to cover up what he had said.

"Oh…Thanks." Erza said, a smile on her face as she drew the frog Natsu dissected on the paper without another word.

"Riiiinng!" the school bell rung, signaling that it was time for lunch and jolted the students from what they were doing. The teacher announced that they had to first pass up their drawings and the dead frog in a box on the teacher's table.

Erza took the drawing, handed it to the teacher and walked quickly out of the lab before Natsu even had the chance to get up.

Only when Erza was outside the canteen did she slow down her pace. _'That was close. Wait! Why do I have to run away from him? He was being __so sweet. And now I'm running from him. I wonder what he thought about __that—'_

Erza's thoughts were cut short when a muscular arm was draped over her shoulders and a tired but familiar voice whispered into her ear, "Why didn't you wait for me, Erza?"

Frozen on the spot, Erza turned her head to the voice and there she stood, face to face with Natsu. Trying to keep her composure, Erza shot back, "And why do I have to wait for you?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and smirked amusedly. "I'm supposed to buy you lunch remember?" They were still face to face so Erza had trouble thinking straight and simply nodded.

Natsu took that as a 'yes' and steered her to the doors of the canteen. Before he opened them, he took his arm off Erza's shoulders, leaving the both of them longing for the other.

After buying their lunches, they went up to the school rooftop where the rest of the gang usually hung out. The both of them were keeping up some small talk on the way there.

The moment they got there, they were greeted by an overly-cheerful Lucy, who clung onto Natsu's arm.

"Where have you been, Natsu?" Lucy asked, smiling creepily at him and ignoring Erza.

Trying to stop the urge to shake Lucy's hands of his arm, Natsu answered in a fake cheery voice. "Oh. Just buying lunch for me and Erza."

Controlling her anger was starting to make Lucy's voice more shrilly and it didn't help that Gray told her what he overheard just now.

"Erza?" Lucy almost shouted. Then in a steadier voice, "Why did you need to buy Erza lunch?"

"I came in late today, so I lost the race and had to buy Erza lunch." Natsu stated simply.

"I thought we were not serious about it!" Lucy said, flustered.

"Well, I was serious and you were not. But you said that you hurt your leg so I wasn't going to leave an injured person behind," he said swiftly.

Before Lucy could say anything, Erza asked in a surprised tone, "You hurt your leg? When? I was with you and I didn't see you hurt yourself."

Silence went on for about 30 seconds. Natsu was smirking by now and Lucy was practically sweating bullets, trying to figure out what to say.

"Well," Lucy started, "I fell down on my way home. Ok? Now stop asking stupid questions. I'm hungry. Let's eat."

Satisfied with how flustered Lucy was, Natsu said, still smirking, "Fine by me." Then he grabbed Erza by her arm, dragged her towards Jellal and sat down on the floor with Jellal and Erza at both of his sides.

Lucy stood at the same spot and stared at the trio. _'I was supposed to __sit next to __Natsu__! Who does the b__itc__h thinks she is?!' _Lucy snarled in anger.

Regaining her composure, she sat down next to Erza, her so called **'best****friend'**, and started to talk to her like nothing happened. Gray then came and sat next to Lucy, quietly eating his food. Erza ate her lunch while nodding at everything Lucy was saying.

"So, did you tell her?" Jellal said in his deep voice to Ichigo.

"Tell her what?" Natsu dumbly replied.

"That you're moving and that you love—"

"Ok! I mean, no. I haven't yet. But… soon." Natsu said sadly. Jellal just nodded and continued to eat his lunch.

It was quiet for a while, everyone was eating their lunch and Lucy was gabbing away to Gray now, since Erza has lost interest and was now sneaking peeks at Natsu. After eating their lunches, Lucy stood up and cleared her throat, earning the others' attention.

"You guys won't believe what I've found! Guess what?" Lucy said loudly, and continued without waiting for them to ask, "I've found a new place to hang out. It's in the forest behind the school. If we go deep enough, we'll find a cliff that overlooks the entire town. I'm sure it's a beautiful place."

Silence followed Lucy's speech as everyone just continued to stare at her. Disappointment was evident on Lucy's face as she expected them, especially Natsu, to ask her for more details on the place or even compliment her on finding a new place as the old place was really boring to her.

"'If' we go deep enough? Did you even go to the place even once? Because we all know that you and nature are not exactly the best of friends." Natsu said.

"Well… Gray was the one who found it and then he told me, so I thought it sounds like a nice place and then I told you guys. And as for nature and me, well, we could be best friends if we tried. After all, I could be friends with anyone I want." Lucy finished.

"Ok. Fine then. We'll go after school." Natsu said. As Natsu finished saying that, the school bell rung, signaling the end of lunch.

"See ya"

"Bye"

"Got to go," the gang exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways to their classes.

**LATER**

"Riiinng!" the school bell rung as students ran out of classes and met with their friends to figure out what they were going to do now since school was over.

"Whoa!" Erza yelled as a biker raced by, making her trip over. But before she hit the ground, an arm reached out to grab and steady her by the waist. "Thank yo—," Erza started to say but cut off when she noticed who it was that had helped her.

"Are you hurt, Erza?" Natsu asked, worry evident on his face.

"Eh? Oh. No. I'm fine." Erza said, surprised.

Relieved, Natsu sighed and said, "Ok. Good."

Erza was going to say something but she noticed that Natsu was still holding her so closely to him. She felt her face starting matched her hair color. After taking notice of their position, instead of letting go, Natsu held on to her tighter. _'Well. I guess there is no time better than the __present.'_ Natsu thought.

"Erza…" Natsu whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

Erza looked up to face him. "Yes?" she whispered just as quietly.

"I– I lov—", Natsu stuttered out and was cut off by a loud interruption. "Hello gang! Your tour guide, the beautiful Lucy Heartfilia has arrived!"

Before Lucy could even glance around for them, Erza pushed Natsu hard enough to make him fall backwards.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Natsu said, feeling quite pissed at Lucy for the interruption. In Lucy's tiny brain, all her could figure out was: first, her Natsu was hurt and second, Erza was as red as a her hair, but that could pass as a really high fever. After she thought of all that, she gave an ear-piercing scream and yelled loud enough for everyone to hear,

"NATSU! What happened? Did you break anything?" Natsu's ears were still numb from all that screaming- he couldn't even think of how to get up much less make a full sentence.

Suddenly, a pair of hands caught hold of his arms and pulled him up. "With all that screaming, I just knew you had to be here," a voice behind him said, amused.

"Thanks, Jellal." Natsu said, steadying himself. Then he remembered something, or rather, someone, was missing. "Where's Erza?! Did she survive that horrible screeching—" Natsu panicked, but stopped when a pair of earplugs appeared in front of his face.

"I used these, you idiot." Erza said, swinging the earplugs in front of his face. "I should have guessed that a dumb guy like you wouldn't be smart enough to use these. But… thanks for worrying." Erza turned her back to Natsu and walked towards Lucy, smiling.

Lucy who had watched the entire scene, was boiling with anger and hatred. Controlling her anger seemed impossible with all the sickening love‐stricken faces in front of her. But she still had a plan and she wasn't about to let her anger ruin it. In a much, much more controlled voice, she said calmly to the gang, "Come on, guys. Let's get going before the sun sets." As they walked towards the forest, Gray came out from behind the school and joined them.

When they stood in front of the forest, Natsu asked, "Hey stripper! Did you really find this 'place' that overlooks the town?"

Gray glared at him and said, "Yes, I did find this place. And it's safe. So, you don't need to worry your ass off pinky." Natsu glared at him and just nodded. Natsu, Gray and Jellal then walked into the forest first, leaving both of the girls behind.

Erza stared after them, mostly Natsu, and came to a decision. She turned towards Lucy, who was staring at her, and said, "Lucy, I need to tell you something."

"Well, say it. We don't have all day." Lucy said, trying to sound friendlier.

Erza looked at Lucy in the eyes and said, "I'm in love with Natsu."

"…And?"

"It's just that you're my best friend. And now, we love the same guy, I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"If you don't want to ruin our 'friendship', then why are you telling me that you love him? Why don't you just give up then?"

"I'm telling you this, because I'm going to fight for him too. And I'm not going to lose to you. But just because we're going to fight for him, it doesn't mean that we have to hate each other. If one of us wins him, then the other one of us will give up and happy for them. I'm willing to accept whoever Natsu chooses and be happy for him either way, but are you willing to do that?"

Lucy took a deep breath and thought, _'I just needed to play through __this and then it will be all over.'_ "Fine. I'm willing to do just that," Lucy said loudly.

Erza put out her hand in front in Lucy, "Shake for it."

Forcing her body to obey, Lucy shook Erza's hand and let go of it quickly. When Erza was about to go to the same path the guys had when through, Lucy called out to her, "Wait, the guys might be already at the cliff, so let's use the shortcut."

Erza looked puzzled. "There's a shortcut? Why didn't the guys use it then?"

"Gray must have forgotten about it but fortunately he told me." Lucy smiled winningly.

"Oh. Ok then. Lead the way."

They entered from the darkest part of the forest. After roughly 10 minutes, Erza and Lucy are still walking through the forest, well, more like crawling through muck.

"Are we there yet, Lucy? I got a feeling that it's getting deeper over here." Erza called out to Lucy, who was behind her.

"Yea, I'm pretty sure it's there. Just right in front of you."

Erza walked on forward and stopped when she reached a shallow pit in front of her. "Eh? Are you sure this is the right way, Lucy?" Erza asked, unaware of the dark look that appeared on Lucy's face, "Because I'm pretty sure that we reached a dead end." The moment Erza said that, a pair of hand shoved her head-first into the pit.

**WITH THE GUYS**

"Where the hell are they?!" Natsu shouted to the open sky.

"Calm down, Natsu." Jellal said from behind him.

"I am calm." Natsu replied, frustrated. He lost count on how many times they had told him to calm down.

"If that's calm, I don't want to know what panic is…" Gray muttered from behind them.

"I heard that!" Natsu growled at him.

"Ok ok. Calm down already," Gray said to him with his hands up in surrender.

"Is there another trail that leads here?" Natsu asked him, as if Gray hadn't said anything.

"No!" Gray said with his teeth clenched and asked, "And how many times exactly are you planning to ask me the same question? That is already the 6th time you've asked me!"

"Do you **THINK** there is another trail that leads here?" Natsu asked him again without any hesitation in his voice.

"No!" Gray finally shouted back, tired of all his questions. Thinking quickly of something to say to shut him up, Gray smirked and said, "You love her." It was a statement rather than a question.

Natsu started to open his mouth, only to close it a second later. "H–her?", he stuttered out.

Gray's smirk went wider as he said, "Yes, her. Erza obviously. I can't imagine you loving Lucy." Gray was silent as he waited for Natsu to regain what was left of his pride. After Natsu regained his composure, he looked at Gray straight into his eyes and replied,

"Yes. I love her." Wanting to at least embarrass the guy, Natsu asked him a question of his own, "And you love Lucy?" He wasn't sure so he phrased it like a question.

But instead of stuttering like how Natsu did, Gray answered in an offended voice, "You must be joking. What makes you think that I would even like her?"

The question caught Natsu off guard as he stuttered out, "Cause you kept on following—"

"—only because she was blackmailing me!" Gray quickly explained, not wanting anyone to think that he would ever like Lucy.

"You're a star student! So what could she be blackmailing you about?" Natsu asked, slightly happy that there was another guy that wasn't her follower.

Gray was silent for awhile, trying to decide whether or not to trust him. "Come on, Gray! As much I hate your guts. You can trust me. We could even be friends." An awkward silence followed Natsu's statement. "Or football buddies?"

Gray let out an relieved sigh and muttered "Thank God." Then he looked straight at him and asked, "You swear you won't tell anyone?" Without waiting for a reply, he blurted out, "I'm living with my girlfriend."

"What's wrong with that?"

"The school doesn't allow students living together. It's 'inappropriate' as they say it. Lucy saw us walking out of the apartment together. She threatened to tell the school board if I don't follow her orders."

"Why didn't you threaten her back? The school doesn't allow sex either."

"What!? She has been doing **IT**? With who? How do you know anyway?"

"She has been doing **IT** with a lot of guys. Most of the students know about her but none of them have proof. She makes sure that the guy is really drunk before going to a motel. And I know exactly which motel it is. Jellal-man and I were walking by the love motel near the bookshop when we saw her with a drunk classmate checking in."

Natsu got smacked on back of his head by Jellal."Who the hell did you call Jelly-man?" Jellal lost his cool.

"…..…Are you serious? You must be joking! That's disgusting!" Gray said with his mouth wide open in horror.

"Just get a picture, she goes there every day at 10, then threaten her back. You and your girlfriend will be safe." Natsu said with a smirk but then added curiously, "Who is your girlfriend anyway?"

"Juvia Lockser" Gray said without hesitation.

"No way! The Emo-girl who always like playing in the rain?" Natsu said in astonishment.

"Yea…why?"

"I thought she doesn't have any friends."

"Two reason why she doesn't have any friend aside me." Gray answered."One, everyone think she's weird caused she speak in third person. Two, her scary brother; Gajeel Redfox. But somehow I got his trust in exchange I never hurt Juvia."

"Oh. That explains it… Is she worth it?"

"Definitely," was Gray's only reply.

Before Natsu could say anything, it started to rain. The three guys, including Jellal, who was watching the scene in front of him the entire time, decided to walk back to the school and wait for the girls to return.

**WITH ERZA**

"Ouch!" Erza squealed as she fell on her butt for the 7th time. "Why are the walls of this pit so slippery and slimy?" Erza shouted from the pit, hoping that someone will hear her. As she tried to climb the pit again, she thought about what happened an hour ago with her ex-best friend.

**Flashback Starts**

"Ahhh!" Erza screamed as she was pushed from behind and yelped in pain when she hit head-first onto the pit's ground. "Ouch…" Erza moan in pain as she rubbed the top of the head. "What was that for, Lucy?" Erza asked, looking upwards to the entrance of the pit. Seeing no one there, she called out, "Lucy?"

In silence, Lucy walked up to the side of the pit and looked down to Erza. "How do you know it was me?" she asked.

"Because you're the only one here." Erza said, hurt that it really was her best friend that pushed her. "Why the hell did you do it?"

"For fun. I mean, come on, it was kind of funny on how you fell into the pit." Lucy smirked at her.

"Wh—" Erza started but was cut off with a rude, "Shut the fuck up already!" from the other girl.

"You already had your time to speak, and now it's only fair if I have mine," Lucy said, trying to control her anger. Without waiting for a reply, she blurted out harshly, "I hate you."

Erza's mouth dropped open. But before she could say anything, Lucy continued, "You don't know how to follow orders at all! I told you that Natsu is mine and you still went on having those petty fights you have every day with him. Not to mention all the times you have stolen his attention from me—"

"I thought you are my best friend!" Erza screamed at her, making Lucy glare down at her.

"You must be joking! How stupid can you be? The only reason I even have to stand near you is because of Natsu, seeing that he's always with YOU!" Lucy screeched at her. Regaining her composure, Lucy spoke in a deadly calm voice, "I don't even know what Natsu sees in you. I hope it's not girlfriend material since I'm around. I'm sure the only thing you know about Natsu is his name and that he is **SMOKING HOT**! I bet you don't even know that he's moving today. And did I forget to mention…"

As Lucy continued to talk, Erza had frozen on the spot as she tried to understand Lucy's last sentence 'he's moving away'.

"Lucy! What do you mean—," Erza shouted, interrupting Lucy.

"And that's Heartfilia to you! You are no friend of mine!" Lucy screeched at Erza, clearly pissed for the interruption.

"Lucy!" Erza shouted back, glaring furiously at Lucy. "What do you mean by 'he's moving today'?"

Trying not to show any fear on her face, Lucy said, "Not that it's any of your business, Natsu's dad opened a new company in another town, at least an hour away, so they're going to move there."

Erza looked at the ground, trying to process the information of Natsu moving. _'I didn't know. Why didn't he tell me?' _Erza thought, but before she could delve any deeper into her thoughts, Lucy said something that made her face go pale.

"That's why I'm going to confess to him."

Erza's head shot up to look at Lucy. "What?"

"I'm going to confess to Natsu." Lucy said, as if she was talking to a 5 year old. "And we both know who he's going to choose. So why don't you stay here for a while as I go and talk to him." With that said, she turned and started to walk away.

As she felt small drops of water on her beautiful face, Erza shouted, "Come on, Lucy! Don't be like that. It's going to rain soon so stop playing around and get me out of here."

Without turning back, Lucy shouted back at Erza with a sigh, "Can't you think logically, Scarlet?! Why would I help you out of that pit? I'll get filthy, and I really want to look hot for Natsu. I mean, what would he think when I confess with mud all over me?"

_'Well, he'll be too busy thinking about the confession, rather than how __you look._' Erza thought quietly, but said out loud, "Natsu is not the type of guy to look at your face and body, but your heart and personality!"

"Don't be naïve, Scarlet! Nowadays, guys as hot as Natsu only want good looks and a nice body. And I have both. So give it up," Lucy shouted as her make-up ran down her face, making her look like a ghost.

Erza stayed silent as Lucy proceeded to walk back to the school. With tears and rain running down her face, she only had three main thoughts repeating over and over in her mind: 1. She no longer had a best friend, or any female friend in particular, 2. She was going to lose the only guy she has ever loved to someone, she realized, she hardly knew and 3. She knew that she was going to hurt someone she never thought she would ever want to hurt.

**Flashback Ends**

"I've got to get out of here." Erza said to herself as she tried to wipe off the tears and rain from her face. But it was no use as the rain came down even harder on her. As Erza looked up to the raining sky, she saw the sides of the pit began to slide mud off them, and before she could even do anything, a huge chunk of mud fell on top of her, burying her under it. Before it could completely cover her, she uttered one last word, "Natsu…"

**WITH NATSU**

"Do you think the girls are waiting for us at the cliff area?" Natsu asked the guys for the 5th time.

"It's raining. Erza is smart enough for the both of them. They'll be back any minute." Jellal said, as two of the three guys sat down on the floor of the school's walkway. Where they sat, they could see the entrance of the forest perfectly.

"Fine…" Natsu said as he reluctantly sat down. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened, but couldn't figure out what it was. As they sat in peaceful silence waiting patiently except for Natsu for the girls to return, the rain started to come down quicker and harder, making it almost impossible to see properly.

Finally, after 15 minutes, a shriek was heard as a figure stumbled out of the forest. Jumping up, the guys wondered what kind of animal could make a sound like that. As the 'animal' came closer, the guys realized that the 'animal' was actually Lucy covered in mud and her make-up smeared all over her face.

Realizing the Erza was not with Lucy, Natsu rushed out under the heavy rain to get to Lucy.

Lucy's face turned from disgust to anticipation. _'Maybe he realized__that he loves me when I was in that horrible forest. Maybe he's even__going to confess.'_ Lucy thought, a smug smile on her lips. _'Beat that, Scarlet!'_ "Natsu…" Lucy called, sweetly and expectantly as Natsu stopped to stand into front of her. But before she could say anything else, Natsu grabbed hold of her shoulders and shook her back and forth.

"Where is Erza?" Natsu shouted as he looked at her face and to the forest entrance back and forth as if Erza would appear if he looked hard enough.

Lucy tried to think of a lie but was too busy staring at Natsu. She never saw Natsu in such a panic before. _'This isn't my __Natsu__,'_ she thought unbelieving.

"Where is Erza?" Natsu forced himself to repeat more calmly.

But instead of telling him where Erza was, Lucy foolishly asked, "Why do you even care? She's a nobody; a pawn for people like me and you. And—," Lucy's voice died out when she saw the deadly look on Natsu's face.

Natsu's hands tightened on Lucy's shoulders."Don't even think about putting me and you in the same group," he said with as much venom he could put in without shouting.

But Lucy refused to listen and continued passionately, "But Natsu, you and I are so much alike. We're both are tall, hot, gorgeous, smart, and popular. It shows how much we belong with each other."

Natsu remained quiet the entire time. Lucy smiled, thinking that Natsu has realized where he stood: next to her in the popular clique. But that moment didn't last long as she felt Natsu's hand tighten some more on her shoulders.

Lucy gave out a yelp of pain as she looked up to Natsu and froze. Natsu's face no longer held suppressed anger; instead he looked like a wild animal about to go in for the kill. He then leaned forward, almost close enough to kiss her, and said in a calm monotone voice,

"Between you and a skunk, I would rather stink so bad that you will leave me alone. Between you and a guy, I would rather be gay. Between you and death itself, I'm willing to walk side by side with it, just to be able to get away from you." Then a smile appeared on his face and his voice softened, "Between you and Erza, I will always choose her. It's not exactly a competition because she will always win no matter what happens. She will always be my one and only choice," he ended lovingly.

After that last statement, Natsu was pulled off Lucy, leaving her standing still in fear. Jellal pulled Natsu's arms together as if he was trying to restrain him from doing anything rash. He then whispered loudly enough for Natsu to hear under the heavy rain. "As much as I agree with you, Natsu, I won't stand for anyone, even my best friend, hurting a woman no matter how much she deserves it. And I'm sure—no, I know, that my sister is able to take care of herself," Jellal finished with pride in his eyes.

By now, Natsu already had his head over his shoulder to look at Jellal. "Sister?" he whispered. He was pretty sure that his best friend didn't have a sister or a family for that matter.

Jellal looked confused for a moment and then he realized what Natsu was talking about. "Oh. Yea. I forgot that I didn't tell you yet. With all the drama and moving…" Jellal trailed off. Natsu looked impatiently at him for an explanation. "Are you sure you want to talk under the rain?" Jellal asked hopefully, trying to find a way out of the conversation.

"We're already wet anyway," Natsu said, still looking over his shoulder.

"She is just like a sister to me, ok!? Just like how you're my brother. You guys are my only family," Jellal muttered. "So stop staring at me and find out what happened to Erza."

Before Natsu could think about Jellal's statement, he remembered Erza and where she was. He jumped and slipped out of Jellal's grip so fast that Jellal didn't even have time to process what was happening.

However, before Natsu could even reach the edge of the forest, he felt a pair of hands wrapped themselves around his arm. He stopped running as he was pulled backwards and turned to glare at whoever that was holding on to him.

Lucy stood there, looking frightened but determined. She asked harshly, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Going to look for Erza." Natsu answered just as harshly, trying to shake off her hands but she held on tighter.

"But it's too dangerous. It's too slippery for you to walk through the mud. You might even slide off a cliff," Lucy said desperately, trying to give petty excuses to make sure Natsu didn't run off to HER. "—And it's raining too heavily to be able to see anything out there." Lucy continued on. _'I'm definitely not going to lose Natsu to HER!'_

"I don't care. I have to know that she's alright."

"But, but…" Lucy stuttered. _'Well, it was now or never.'_ Lucy blurted out a loud, "I love you!"

That statement made Natsu stop trying to pull his arm from her hands and stare at her. "Wha—"

"I love you," Lucy repeated, now feeling quite proud to be able to say it. Seeing the look on Natsu's face, she said confidently, "I love you, Natsu Dragneel, and I want you to be mine."

Silence met her statement as she thought smugly, _'How cute! He's shock __that someone as beautiful and hot as me would confess to him. I wonder__what he's going to say. Or do…'_

"Please don't tell me that you confessed because you think I would accept you," Natsu said softly, like a prayer.

Lucy's look of smugness was replaced by a look of shock and confusion. "Huh? But I thought—," Lucy stopped short because of what Natsu said next pierced her heart if she even had one.

"…After what I said just now, you still don't understand, huh? Then let me get straight to the point: I **HATE** you." Even though Natsu knew it was cruel to say that, he needed her to stop hurting Erza. "I don't feel the same way you do towards me. I can't even stand you, much less being your friend." He stared at her, "I'm sorry. I just don't love you."

"But all the times you were so nice to me—"

"Only because you were Erza's only friend—"

"But why don't you love me then?"

"I found out that the only reason Erza was not able to get any other friends. **YOU** were spreading rumors about her. And you would threaten those that try to talk to her. And—"

"But why do you have to fall for **HER**?!" Lucy screeched.

"Well, I have you to thank for. If it wasn't for you and all that rumors, I would have never felt the need to protect her. The more time I spend with her, the more time I used to get to know her, the unknown feeling I had when I was near her, finding out what was that feeling and the pure happiness I felt when I get to make her smile. I wouldn't have felt all those things if it wasn't for you and your jealousy." Natsu smiled at Lucy, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet a wonderful girl like Erza Scarlet."

At that, Lucy let go of his arm and let her hands fall to her side. Natsu turned his back at her and started to run. But before he could even move one step, he was tackled by Gray and Jellal.

"How many more times are you guys planning to stop me from finding Erza?" Natsu shouted, frustrated.

"Think logically, Natsu! What Lucy said about the danger of looking for Erza in the rain is true. So let us at least wait for the storm to calm down then we'll go," Gray said calmly.

Natsu looked at the forest and then back again to Gray but he couldn't keep his anger down. "Fine!" he growled.

Gray nodded his head. He and Jellal kept a tight hold on Natsu as they walked back to the hallway. Lucy was shadowed them, silently keeping to herself.

When they reached the hallway, Gray and Natsu sat down, not wanting to drip water everywhere. Lucy went off to find some towels to dry themselves up. Jellal suddenly announced that he had something to do and he would return in a while. Gray and Natsu sat there, leaning against the wall, facing each other.

"So," Natsu began, "since when did 'Heartfilia-sama' became 'Lucy'? Don't look so shocked that I noticed. It was just at the back of my mind."

"As much I hate to admit it…I decided to follow your 'advice' and rebel against her. I'm tired of following her everywhere like a lost puppy," Gray said, a smile creeping up his face.

"Good work, man. I hope for you and your Emo girlfriend's happiness." Natsu said, laughing.

"She's not Emo, but thanks." Gray said, as they slipped into a comfortable silence.

After a couple of minutes, Jellal came back, holding his handphone tightly in his hand. "Listen up, guys. I need to go somewhere to pick up your 'moving-away' gift, Natsu. So I really need you to stay here. Don't move a muscle until I come back. Okay?"

"…No promises, man. Once the rain is not that heavy, I'm going out to find Erza. But I'll try."

"Fine. See ya," Jellal said as he walked away looking rather distracted.

At that exact moment, Lucy came out of the school building with a bunch of towels stacked up on her open arms. She silently walked up to them, gave them each a towel, went to a corner and sat down quietly, making herself invisible to both guys as they ignored her.

After 45 minutes, the thunderstorm slowed down and only the light dribble of rain drops on the roof could be heard.

"Let's go," Natsu said determinedly as he got up. "Lucy, you led the way." Lucy went straight to the front while Natsu and Gray walked side by side behind her.

Walking deeper into the forest, Natsu was getting more and more pissed as they walked through mud that reached up to their knees. While they were crawling through the mud, Natsu asked questions like, "Why did you bring her here?" "The world is a big place and you just had to drag her here?" "What were you thinking in that brain of yours?" Lucy wisely kept quiet, afraid of what would happen to her when Natsu finds out that she purposefully left Erza in a pit.

When they arrived to the end the trail, Natsu's eyes widened when he saw the pit. Somehow, he just knew what had occured there and was furious at Lucy and worried for Erza. His feelings of worry triumphed so he ran to the edge of the pit and peered over the edge, afraid of what he might find.

Lucy and Gray were standing away from the pit, watching Natsu's face for his next reaction. Worry and relief passed through his face as he looked into the pit, but it was quickly replaced with a look of fury and more worry. The both of them took a step back.

"Where is she?" Natsu shouted to Lucy, thinking that she lied to him.

Lucy stuttered. "But she was there when I left her—"

"You left her here? Alone? No wait! I bet you did it on purpose. You must have hid her somewhere." Natsu glared at her.

By now Lucy was whimpering, "No. I didn't hide her. She was right here when I left her. She must have climbed out. I'm sorry."

It took some effort but finally, Natsu's face softened as he looked at the pitiful girl. "Ok. I believe you. Let's look for her."

"But she might have gone back to the school," Gray said smartly.

_'He's right'_, Natsu thought, _'She's smart enough to follow the same__trail she took back to the school. And—… Damn it! I completely forgot__about what __Jellal__ said. He told me to stay there!'_

"Come on! Let's go back to the school," Natsu said hurriedly as they plowed through the muddy trail.

When the three of them finally reached the school, they saw an annoyed Jellal standing at the edge of the hallway waiting for them. "I thought I told you to wait here," Jellal said to Natsu.

"Sorry man. I was too focused on finding Erza," Natsu explained.

"Nah. It's ok. Anyway, your present is at the school's roof top." But before Natsu could move a step, Jellal grabbed his arm. "And just a warning, I know that you will love the gift. But I really don't know what 'her' reaction will be. So, good luck."

Natsu's brain was a bit slow at processing what Jellal had said, but when it did, he ran all the way to the rooftop. When he stood in front of the door leading to the rooftop, he took a deep breath, trying to slow down his ragged breaths from running all the way and from the nervousness that was weighing down his heart.

"Ok! I can do this," Natsu muttered to himself, "I mean, even if she rejects me, it's not like end of the world… But I don't want that to happen. And I'm a coward if I don't have the guts to confess my own feelings… and I really hope I'm man enough to do what I'm going to do and not make a fool out of myself…"

Finally, after his long pep talk, Natsu opened the door. The exact moment he saw what was at the other side of the door, Natsu's brain shut down and he completely forgot what he had wanted to say. Worry etched across his face as he stared at Erza, drenched and covered in mud, standing under the light rain at the edge of the balcony.

"Erza, are you ok?" Natsu said as he stepped forward.

"I'm fine, but my clothes isn't. It's going to take me forever to get the mud off so I'll just let the rain do the job," Erza answered softly, trying to keep her tone light.

"Where were you? I've been trying to find you. What have you been doing all this time?"

"Well, I've been crawling in mud, lost my best friend, gained an enemy and fell into a pit." Erza said in a monotone, her voice cracking.

"How do you feel about it?" Natsu asked quietly.

"Frustrated!" Erza yelled, her hands clenched by her side.

"And?"

"What do you mean by 'and?' I'm frustrated. I'm angry. I'm pissed. I'm—"

"—sad," Natsu finished.

"No! I'm not—"

"Then why are you crying?" Natsu asked calmly.

Erza froze and used the palm of her hands to cover her face. "No, I'm not." She turned her face away from Natsu.

Natsu walked forward till he stood in front of her. He grabbed hold of both her wrists in his hands and pulled them down from her face. Her eyes were swollen and red from the crying and under them, a trail of tears continued to fall down her face. "Yes. You are." Natsu whispered as he pulled her into a hug.

Instead of pushing him away, she held on to him and cried into his already wet shirt. Natsu gave out encouraging words now and then. "You will be fine." "Lucy doesn't deserve to be your friend." "At least you came out of that pit alive, didn't you?" "Didn't those TV people always say that a mud pack could keep your face all shiny?" "I'm not going anywhere." "No one will hurt you while I'm around." "I'll always be by your side no matter how far we are from each other." "I'll be here if you want me to be." "I won't leave you."

They were no longer standing but sitting on the ground. Natsu's back was against the balcony while Erza sat between his legs, lying against his chest. The rain settled into a small drizzle. Erza had stopped crying and neither of them said anything after that. But now, it had been quite some time and Natsu was getting uncomfortable with the silence.

"So, Jelly got you out of the pit." Natsu said it like a statement he couldn't quite believe.

"Yes, I called him."

"You called him," Natsu repeated. "Why?" _'Why him and not me?'_

"Because he's my brother."

"Huh?" Natsu was… confused.

"He's like a brother to me. And, likewise, he thinks of me like a sister," Erza explained calmly.

"When did that happen?"

"When he was trying to confess to Ultear. He needed some advise and I gave it to him."

"Ultear Milkovich? The scary girl. That girl is always beat up any guy who tried force her to a date."

"Yup!"

"How the hell Jellal captured her heart anyway?"

"Well….When Ultear's mother dies. Jellal was there for her even thought he got beaten at first, but he wasn't give up and succeeded make Ultear on her knees"

"Wow. Has he confessed yet?"

"… They're already dating… I thought Jellal was your best friend."

"He is! Maybe he's too busy to tell me…" Natsu tried to make up an excuse. Then he shook his head and quickly changed the subject, "Anyway, you should be friends with Ultear."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Why~?"she drawled.

"She used to be best friends with Lucy, that is, until Lucy dumped her for the popular clique. That's why Ultear started to became such s scary girl"

"Maybe I will…" Erza whispered. She knew clearly what she was supposed to do but she was trying to put it off as long as possible.

"Erza…" Natsu whispered into her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Go ahead," she answered mindlessly as she turned around to look up at him, sitting on her legs with her hands folded on her lap. She somehowfelt like she should give him her undivided attention as she looked up to a pair of warm onyx eyes.

At that exact moment, Natsu lost all of the 'guts' he had. The pep talk he had previously given himself now seemed so unclear as it clotted up his brain. The nervousness he thought he got rid of returned and gripped at his heart, making it harder to breath. "I love you," he uttered feebly.

"What?" Erza asked in disbelief.

Natsu took a long breath and said loudly and clearly, "I love you, Erza Scarlet!"He smiled and laughed at Erza's reaction. Her hand flew to cover her mouth as tears of joy came pouring down her face.

"Wh-what?" she whispered from behind her hands. Natsu smirked at her, not the mocking smirk he always wore but like a smile you give out to the people you dearly love. He took hold of Erza's wrists and pulled them down from her face to her lap, making her stare up into his eyes.

"I love you…." Natsu whispered before bending down to kiss her. When Natsu's lips touched hers, she lost track of all her thoughts and closed her eyes. The kiss wasn't wild or hard, rather, it was soft and slow. He was so desperate for his feeling to reach her. And it did, she would never forget about him and his feelings as she cried silent tears. She was so happy yet sad at the same time. What she was supposed to do was very clear in her mind but her heart simply refused to listen. She wanted to accept his feelings but she knew that she'd only break his heart in the end. The thought of breaking his heart made her own clench as she harshly pushed Natsu away from her and broke away from his lips.

Natsu stared at her with wide eyes as she stood up, leaving on him the floor. "Erza-," he started but was cut off when Erza said something that made his heart drop.

"You're moving," she said it like a statement rather than a question.

"I-," Natsu tried to explain but once more, he was cut off by Erza.

"I don't think we could last a long-distance relationship. I mean, come on, the both of us clash like fire and ice. We fight like every single day and to be honest, it's getting quite tiring," Erza said, her voice quivering.

But Natsu didn't notice the lie as he listened to everything she said, his head bowed low and his pink bangs covering his eyes.

Erza was trying her best to sound like a heartless Lucy but was failing miserably. She wanted to end it as soon as possible so that she would be able to crawl into her bed and just cry. Her voice shook as she said her last lie to Natsu.

"I'm sorry, Natsu. I just don't love you." Without waiting for a reply, Erza turned and ran away, not wanting to see his face. She let the tears and raindrops mingle and run freely down her face, uncaring of how she looked to others. _'Never again will I lie__to hurt someone,'_ Erza vowed silently.

Natsu flinched as Erza delivered the final blow and his heart shattered on impact. He didn't look up when she ran as he thought about her last words, the same words he had said to another girl just moments ago.

**ONE WEEK LATER**

"How is she, Jellal?" Gray asked while buying his lunch at the school canteen.

"Depressed, dead, empty. Choose any word you like- they all fit. She still feels bad for rejecting Natsu, I guess. I mean, she did have feelings for him too," Jellal replied, feeling worried for his little sister.

"So where is she now?"

"On the rooftop," Jellal said. Then suddenly feeling a presence nearby, they both turned their heads just in time to catch sight of an pink blur disappearing through the door to the rooftop.

"Was that-," Gray tried to ask.

"Nah. It couldn't be," Jellal replied. After a moment of awkward silence, Jellal tried to change the subject.

"So… where's Lucy?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Don't you usually hang out with her?"

"You must be joking, right? I couldn't even look at her without wanting to hit her."

"Then what happened? She has been really quiet this week, not that I'm complaining."

"I told everyone about her."

"What?! Won't she tell the teachers about you and Juvia?"

"Let's just say that I have been doing a little research and blackmailing. And now, I want to see how the damn slut is going to fend for herself now that her other 'pets' have found out about her activities."

"Oh well. Serves her right, I guess."

"I know. And I'm sure the other guys think so too."

"Poor Lucy," Jellal chuckled with a smile on his face.

**WITH ERZA**

Erza stood at the balcony of the school rooftop, tears flowing freely down her face as she wiped them off again with the back of her hand. _'__Natsu__,'_ she thought again for the millionth time. She couldn't seem to forget the look on his face when she told him that she didn't love him. She also couldn't bear the heavy feeling on her chest for lying to him. "Natsu," she whispered quietly, her chin on the cold balcony railing.

"Yes?" a voice said from behind her.

Erza's head shot up and she spun her entire body to face the voice, her hands clenched onto the balcony behind her. There, she had never been so shocked and happy to see Natsu in front of her wearing his school uniform. "What are you doing here?" she yelled at him with her mouth wide open.

Natsu grinned at her. "I am a student here, aren't I?" Natsu said smugly, liking her reaction.

"But you moved away!" Erza shouted, staring at him.

"Well yeah. But how did you know?" Natsu frowned at her.

She just replied with one word. "Lucy."

Natsu continued to stare at her. "And how the hell does she know?"

"How the hell am I supposed what goes through her spy network. But it does look like I was the last one to know about your move," she yelled at him.

"Well it isn't any of your business whether or not I moved," he yelled back at her.

Erza cringed at that. _'That's right, it isn't any of my business.'_

Natsu seemed to realize his mistake as he rubbed his neck, trying to figure out what he was going to say next. "That's not what I meant…." He said lamely.

Erza's anger rose as she stood as tall as possible to glare at him with the coldest look she could muster. Unfortunately for her, her form could only reach his shoulder. "That's not what you mean?!" she yelled at him. "Then what on Earth could you mean? I think you made that clear enough that it wasn't any of my business."

"I just didn't think you cared enough!" Natsu yelled back.

"Of course I care! I thought you were my friend but I guess I was the only one thinking about it," Erza snarled at him.

Unable to keep his temper contained, Natsu yelled back, "Well what if I didn't want to be your friend? What if I wanted something more than that?!"

Erza was confused. Half of her was shocked that Natsu was saying these things to her without any embarrassment and the other half of her was furious that he was making all the troubles sound like it was her fault. So Erza did what Erza did best. She kicked him.

Natsu let out a string of curses as he held his injured knee, glaring at her with a look that could melt ice.

But Erza did not waver from his glare. She was too mad to back down. But who was she to be mad about what Natsu said. She didn't want to be JUST friends with him. She wanted to be something more too. But when she heard about his move, she knew that their 'relationship' wouldn't last. _'And that'_, she thought, _'was the only stupid reason why I had__to reject his confession. Because he was moving FAR, FAR AWAY. It would __NEVER work. And yet, here he is, standing right in front of me when he__was supposed to be FAR, FAR AWAY. Even when I keep telling myself that__he was never coming back and that I should forget about him.'_

Natsu stood there as he watched Erza's expressions turn from anger to sadness and to deep grief. Natsu decided right there and then that he never wanted to see the look of total sorrow across Erza's face. With that thought as motivation, he took a step forward and boldly wrapped Erza into his strong arms. As he tilted his head downwards to ask her what was wrong, Erza tilted hers up and captured his lips in hers.

It was fast and rough, much unlike their first kiss. But Natsu decided that he liked it much more this way. There was another thing that he noticed that gave him hope. It was the way she kissed him. That same desperate need for her to show him her feelings. The same way he kissed her almost a week ago.

But Natsu wasn't able to enjoy it for long. As Erza pulled her lips back away from him, Natsu saw the same look of grief on her face. The face of someone who lost something really important. "Was the kiss THAT bad?" He joked resignedly.

Erza looked startled at first before bursting out laughing at Natsu's question. And just like that, the pressure on both of them broke and Natsu laughed along with her.

If someone were to see them, they would think that they were a crazily in love couple laughing at absolutely nothing. When the laughing finally ceased, Erza looked at Natsu with a serious expression. "I need some answers," she stated.

Natsu looked at her with an equally serious expression. "Only if you answer mine too," he replied.

"Fine then," she said evenly. "Why do you not want to be my friend?"

Natsu laughed at that. When he stopped, he pushed the bangs of her scarlet hair to the side of her face as he whispered, "I think that it's quite obvious that I want to be someone more than just friends," he smirked at her.

Erza stopped a blush from rising up to her face and slapped Natsu's hand away from her face. "You're not going to be forgiven that easily, Dragneel," she said, smirking as well.

Natsu was amused with her reaction and just shrugged it off. His face turned grim as he thought about the question he was going to ask. "Why do you look so sad after our kiss?" he whispered. "It was like you lost something important."

A look of hesitation crossed Erza's face as she bit her lip. Natsu saw that and quickly reminded her on their agreement.

She took a large breath of air before quickly admitting, "I thought that I had lost you."

Natsu stared at her and asked, "How did you lose me?"

Erza yelled, "By you moving away, you IDIOT!"

Natsu started laughing again but this time it echoed around them. He didn't stop laughing until Erza kicked him in the knees again.

With tears of laughter and pain in his eyes, Natsu explained, "Yea, my house may have moved to another town but I refuse to move another school. I mean, come on, there's no way I'm going anywhere away from you." He smiled at her, not that wicked smirk, but an honest caring smile.

Erza let her blush go right up her face as she stood savouring the romantic moment… until Natsu ruined the moment by saying "You should be grateful that I'm willing to do this cause I need to wake up TWO hours earlier to catch the bus to school over here."

In the very same second, Erza kicked his already bruised knees. As Natsu howled in pain yet again, Erza stood there smiling coldly at him, "So you're telling me that I spent an entire week being heartbroken over you when you were still going to come back here anyway?!"

As Erza raised her hand, Natsu thought that she was going to slap him and shut his eyes. But instead of a hard impact on his face, he felt something soft on his lips. Natsu's eyes widened in surprise as she pulled away, grinning at him. "The next time you do something way, way too late I will kick your ass upside down, Natsu Dragneel," she smiled sweetly at him.

**THE END**


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